Eyes Wide Open
by D.M.P
Summary: Fic: A young blind girl discovers something amazing when she gets lost in the woods


EYES WIDE OPEN

BY D.M.P.

Kristen was lost.

Night was falling. The wind blew in faint gusts as the little girl wrapped the old sweater tighter around her small frame. Her dog Charlie tried to help his master. He was used to guiding her from place to place, but now he too had no sense of direction. He tried hard, but his golden retriever heritage only went so far into helping him find the old campground by ways of smell. He felt helpless because his master was helpless and the dog couldn't aid her.

The sun set, coloring the sky in rich red and orange hues. But the girl could not see such a beautiful scene. Kristen had never witnessed a sunset and never will. 

The air grew cooler. The birds were finishing up their day long chatter and nestled up in their nests. The sun faded from the horizon as the quiet twilight steeped in to take its place.

Kristen sat on the boulder, trying not to cry. She was ten years old, a double-digit age. She thought of herself to be much more mature than when she was just the single digit age of nine last week. Kristen tried not to cry; she tried to sort out the situation and logically find a solution to her problem.

First of all, she turned ten last Wednesday. Because it was her birthday, her parents took her out to a expensive restaurant. Kristen ate lobster for the first time. If she could see the lobster she would have refused this meal because of the bug-like appearance, but she couldn't so she didn't. There, her parents asked what she would like to do for her birthday. A long weekend was coming up; the girl didn't have to attend school on Monday. There was time to do something extra special.

Kristen didn't want to do something ordinary for her birthday. She wanted to do something different, something slightly daring and unusual for a girl like her to do. She wanted to go camping.

Her parents first refused, saying that she would be cooped up in the tent all day because the she could get lost on the trails. And they also mentioned that there are bugs and bad weather and other possibilities that could happen. But Kristen insisted, and so Kristen's parents took their blind daughter camping for her birthday. 

One the first day out in the national forest, Kristen wanted to experience everything. She was a city girl, and the only time she experienced nature life was from walking through the park. So her parents let her experience nature... kind of.

Sure, they walked the trails. They heard the birds singing and the wild beasts call to each other during the evening. They had a campfire and roasted marshmallows and sang songs. But Kristen felt smothered. Now that she was out of the house and in a place that was totally different than what she was used to, her parents feared something horrible might happen. They would not let her near the lake, afraid that she might drown. They wouldn't let her take a single step on the trails without them, afraid that Kristen might hurt herself on this unfamiliar ground. Her parents wouldn't even let her out of the tent without one of them close behind.

Kristen wanted to be alone. She wanted privacy away from her overprotective parents. She wanted to prove to them and to herself that she was now more mature and independent. So on the morning of the last day of this long weekend, she got up early. So early that her parents were still asleep, and the sun was just peeping out from the horizon. She managed to pack some food, and using her portable Braille typewriter, wrote her parents a note in script that she left for a walk and will be back by nightfall.

But now nightfall was long since passed and this little girl was lost, a victim of trail-wandering. She pressed the button on her audio watch. It's mechanical voice told her the time. It was getting late, and Kristen knew that her parents would be worried sick about her.

Charlie the Seeing-Eye Dog licked his master on the cheek, trying to comfort her. Kristen was not comforted.

Slowly, the single tear rolled down her pale cheek. She quickly wiped it away. _I'm ten years old now_, she told herself, _I can handle this. I won't cry._

Kristen rose to her feet, buttoning her blue sweater. Charlie sensed that Kristen's determination and rose to his paws too. Kristen felt the tree behind her. She once heard that the moss on tress grew on a certain side, always facing north. The campsite, she knew, was north from the trail she took before she got lost, so she hoped that by finding which way the moss grew on trees, she would be able to find her way back.

_This tree feels strange_, she thought to herself. The bark wasn't rough and gnarly like most trees, but as smooth as glass. Kristen rapped her hand upon the trunk. Instead of the woody knock of ordinary trees, she heard a metallic clang like steel. If Kristen could see, she would find that this oak looks exactly like the others in this forest. But since Kristen was blind, she saw past the hologram and felt the real metal door of a Yeerk pool entrance.

Curiously, she continued to knock on this metal door. _Clang, clang. Clang clang._

Charlie growled under his breath. He didn't like this strange metal portal.

Without warning, the door began to move slightly. It wasn't the movement a normal person could feel, but the almost insignificant action that only a blind person, with their sharpened senses, could detect. 

Kristen backed away from the tree. Charlie stood in front of his master and growled at the suspicious oak. Kristen grasped Charlie's leash tightly, and pulled him behind the boulder they were sitting on.

There was a loud, stiff mechanical groan as the door in the tree opened. Kristen sensed a large beast was poking its head out of the opening. Inside, she was scared to death because she felt that this beast that came out from the tree wasn't human. If she could see, she would know that she was right.

The Hork-Bajir looked around for the person who pounded on this entrance doorway. Its sharp sense of smell could detect something... someone close by.

Kristen breathed shallow breaths of the still air. She hugged the rock side, trying to be invisible. Charlie smelled the alien beast. Seeing that it was unfamiliar and wanting to protected its master, Charlie gave a defensive growl from where he and Kristen sat.

"Quiet, Charlie," Kristen hushed. But it was too late.

The Hork-Bajir turned its snake-like head and walked toward the boulder. Kristen then stood up and ran, with Charlie not far behind.

With immense strength, the Hork-Bajir jumped over the large rock and landed just ten yards away. There, it ran head on toward Kristen.

Charlie ran ahead, making it able for Kristen to tighten the grip on her Seeing Eye dog's leash and follow the golden retriever into the dark woods.

The Hork-Bajir was faster than the both of them. Kristen could hear its thudding footsteps close behind them, and getting closer and closer.

Kristen ran blindly on. Charlie jumped over a dry stream bed, but Kristen couldn't tell that it was ahead. She fell right in, letting go of Charlie's leash.

Kristen screamed as she rolled to the bottom of the dry stream bed. She could hear Charlie on the other side. He was barking and growling at the thing that was chasing them, trying to protect Kristen. But the thing roared back. Then there was a swift sound as the Hork-Bajir's blade whipped through the air. Kristen heard her dog whimper then fall silent.

"Charlie!" she cried.

She heard the thing move closer to her. She could smell the alien breath and sense that it was going to get her. She scrambled back, digging her hands into the stream bank as she tried to climb backwards.

The thing grabbed at her. She screamed.

Fwapp!

Kristen heard a sharp blade whip through the air. She heard the loud _thump_ as the thing hit the ground, lifeless.

She stood there, gasping for breath as she could feel something wet cover her feet. It was Hork-Bajir blood.

Finally a voice called out of the darkness. < Are you okay? > he asked.

Kristen jerked her head up, trying to sense who was there. Whatever it was, it spoke in her head. "Who are you?" she asked.

This creature didn't answer, but helped her out of the stream bed.

Kristen felt around for her dog's leash. "Charlie?" she called timidly. A faint whimper was heard. She ran to him and felt more wetness coming from his leg. Kristen took off her old sweater and tried to rip some of the cloth.

Fwapp!

The mysterious creature cut it for her. She took the strip of cloth and after a few minutes, managed to tie a clumsy know around her friend's leg. She put her arms around the dog.

"We have to go back to camp," she told the creature. "Can you help us?"

He said nothing. This wasn't a person of many words. < Get on my back, > he said. 

Get on his back? Kristen walked toward the soundless voice. She stood by his side. She could sense his calm presence. Carefully, she put out her hand until she could feel something ahead of her. It was fur, short yet soft, like a deer's.

The creature seemed to be looking at her strangely. She turned toward him with her sightless eyes. "Is-is this you?" she asked quietly. 

This creature seemed to finally notice the white film over the girl's eyes. < Yes. > he said and put the girl on his back. She started to slip backwards. It was funny; the creature's back wasn't straight, but sloped downward. Kristen slipped down the creature's back and stopped at the base of its tail. Unconsciously, Kristen stuck her hand out to feel behind her. It seemed to be a tail. She reached her hand out and felt its tail with the taut muscles covered in smooth fur. Kristen moved her hand up higher and higher as she traced the length of the tail with her hand. The tail curved upward. 

The creature didn't mind her curiosity. He lowered his tail, just a little, so that Kristen could feel the end. < Careful, > he said.

Kristen felt something flat and hard. It curved like a crescent moon and Kristen could tell it was sharper than any knife.

< Here, > the creature helped Kristen get up onto his back again. She handed him her torn sweater and the creature used this to tie both of their waists together, so Kristen wouldn't slip again.

Kristen could feel his torso bend down to pick something up. He put it in her arms. It was Charlie. He gave a weak whimper and licked her hand. Kristen rubbed her hand through his long, shaggy fur; it was so different from this deer-like creature that she was sitting upon.

This creature began to move. He walked forward through the woods. Then he started to speak. 

< Where do you live? > he asked.

"I don't live anywhere near here," Kristen replied. "My family is camping here for the weekend at the Jackson Peak Campground. I kind of got lost today," she ended shyly.

The creature turned around and headed in the other direction. 

It was so strange. Kristen never rode all her life and she was amazed at this creature's smooth gait, his strong flowing muscles moving under her, and a sense of power and calmness this being had. He was as alien as the roaring beast that was chasing her before, but much more....

"What's your name?" Kristen couldn't help asking. In her mind, she tried to picture who this mysterious stranger was, with the four legs and bladed tail.

The creature paused for a moment. < My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. >

Kristen pondered this in her child-like manner. "What are you?" she asked. "Well, no, that didn't come out right. I'm mean you're not a thing, and I know that question sounds rude but..." She trailed off.

The Andalite gave a little chuckle. It was funny for Kristen to hear laughter in her head. < I'm called an Andalite. > he said simply.

Kristen tried to vision this strange being again now that it had a name. She saw a deer with a long tail tipped with a blade. This creature had a human front with funny hands. She had felt the multiple fingers when he lifted her up onto his back. But where the head was, there was an empty void. With people she knew well, like her parents and teachers, she had asked if she could feel their face, to help her see. But she was to shy to ask the Andalite for this. So they rode on in silence.

The calm riding and quiet forest made Kristen grow sleepy. She felt so safe and secure near this Andalite, that Kristen didn't give a second thought when she fell asleep on his back.

***

Kristen woke up when Aximili stopped.  he said. He stopped at the edge of the Jackson Peak Campground. The sun was just rising over the east. The birds were already singing.

Aximili untied the sweater and carefully lowered the blind girl to the ground. Then, even more carefully, he gave her Charlie. The girl sat on the ground, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She heard the Andalite turn away. 

"Wait," she said, her voice slightly hoarse. Her picture wasn't complete. Kristen wouldn't let the Andalite leave her life with his picture in her mind.

< What is it? >

She grabbed his hand and tugged on it. Aximili lowered himself to his knees. 

"Can I?" she asked timidly. "I want to see your face."

The Andalite said nothing. She felt the Andalite's fragile fingers take her hands. Slowly, he guided them to his face. Kristen felt more smooth, soft fur. She felt the flat, warm surface and the faint slits that were his nose. She felt the ears with the pointed tips, and with both hands felt the long, delicate eye stalks. Kristen saw Aximili's face.

The sun climbed its way over the horizon, shining its brilliant light upon the world as the birds reached the climax of their sunrise song. 

"Kristen!" called a voice excitedly.

Kristen turned. "Mom?"

Kristen's mother ran up to her daughter and gathered her up in her arms. "Kristen!" her mother sobbed. "We've been so worried about you! Oh, honey, where were you?! Your father just went out with the search patrol. Oh, sweetheart, I'm so happy you're back!"

Kristen only listened to her overjoyed mother with one ear. Her head was turned, facing the direction the Andalite had run off to. "Good-bye, Aximili," she whispered. She concentrated on the face see saw. It will stay in her mind- and her heart- forever.

Her mother stopped her initial shock and joy and carried her small daughter in her arms. Charlie limped behind. "Kristen," her mother noticed for the first time, "What happened to Charlie? He looks like someone went after him with a machete. And, honey, where's your sweater?" 

Kristen didn't answer. It was best not to.

***

It was two weeks after the camping trip. Her parents questioned her thoroughly, but Kristen didn't say much about what happened when she got lost that night. She was also punished, grounded for two weeks for leaving the campsite and getting lost in the first place. Now was the first time Kristen was allowed to go outside after this incident. With her parents, she went to the neighborhood park.

Kristen was alone, sitting against the back of an old pine. Charlie was suppose to stay home because of the injury to his leg, but Kristen insisted that Charlie should come.

He put his head in her lap, the heavy bandage on his leg showing.

Kristen breathed in the still, quiet air. This was as close as she could ever get to nature. Until her parents calm down after their little scare anyway. 

She heard the rustle of a bush nearby. Charlie lifted his head a gave an inquisitive growl.

"Who's there?" she called. 

Silence.

Kristen crawled toward the spot in the bushes. "Hello?" she said. There was no one there.

Kristen's fingers touched something soft and torn. It was dirty and ripped. Kristen gathered the thing in her arms. It was her sweater.

Just a few yards away, a strangely handsome boy stood, watching her. Then he walked out of the park, disappeared into the crowded streets, and was gone.


End file.
